“Apple Inc. floated the idea of investing in Twitter Inc. as the companies discussed integrating the social service into Apple’s mobile operating system last year, according to people familiar with the discussions,” Jessica E. Vascellaro and Shira Ovide report for The Wall Street Journal.

“Apple floated the idea at the time and it didn’t progress into serious discussions or negotiations, this person and other people familiar with the matter said,” Vascellaro and Ovide report. “Apple and Twitter remain tight and continue to talk about future product integrations. They include more deeply melding Twitter and iTunes, according to two people briefed on the matter. Apple is preparing to phase out its own troubled social network for iTunes, called Ping, later this year.”